There is a lot to like about Postecoglou who has a strong track record but at 57 years of age he has never found success in any of Europe's top five leagues and his fine form at Celtic needs to be seen in the context of their historic dominance of Scottish football. Two years after joining Parkhead as a 'joke', Postecoglou has left Celtic as a legend, and it was at Spurs he too had to walk away from critics who believed he didn't land one of the biggest jobs in English football.
However, indecision is nothing new for the Aussie, and Postecoglou's remarkable but often uneven rise from obscurity to the top of European football has been marked by an unwavering drive and determination to do things his way. Almost everywhere he has been, from the Australian national team to Japanese club Yokohama F Marinos, Postecoglou has been urged to be more pragmatic or conservative, but he has never strayed from his highly attacking and highly dynamic football - which he has ultimately proved to be working well. . with the Spurs. "The tenacity he has definitely come from the bottom of his heart – he always has something to prove," said former Manchester United and Australia goalkeeper Mark Bosnich of Postecoglou, who was born in Greece but aged five emigrated to Australia with his parents.
"He grew up at a time when many of us from immigrant families found it difficult to be accepted by society as a whole and playing football was seen as outsiders," added Bosni?, who is also the son of a Croatian immigrant. “So he has always been an outsider. “Football here has always been seen as a sport played by immigrants. It grounded him and molded him into an underdog mentality." In his first managerial job in traditionally Greek South Melbourne, Postecoglou was an insider and successful – leading his former club (where he was coached by the legendary Ferenc Puskas) to a return to the back-to-back title and participation in the first-ever Club World Cup.
He won the position of manager of the Australian youth team in 2000 but left the post seven years later in despair, shortly after he fell out in an embarrassing live TV interview with Craig Foster, a former Crystal Palace defender and Socceroos captain, whom Postecoglou said was serious. the handicap for his career. Foster urged him to resign after Australia failed to qualify for the U20 World Cup and Postecoglou has suffered from the incident for years.
"I remember how we worked together on Fox Sports and changed in the locker room before we went on the air," said Simon Hill, Australia's top broadcaster. "I asked him if he was planning to return to coaching and he said, 'To be honest, I almost felt like I was out of work.'
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